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throwaway91530 | 3 months ago

> In terms of almost any possible quality of life metric you can think of Europe is ahead of the US.

Laughable statement, considering Europeans give a leg and a arm to live in America.

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mdhb|3 months ago

Real land of the free and home of the brave stuff here with a throwaway account to offer such gripping commentary.

Just talk like a normal adult with your normal account and accept that maybe some people think your opinion is bad and you lose an internet point.

throwaway665667|3 months ago

Judging people by the content of their character and their opinions, and not their superficial characteristics is an American value. Is that an alien concept to people who supposedly enjoy such a high quality of life?

ben_w|3 months ago

> Laughable statement, considering Europeans give a leg and a arm to live in America.

No we don't.

Sure, most of us used to like the USA a decade ago, but even back then it would have to be a right weirdo (everywhere has them) to think that highly of the USA.

If anything, I'm thinking of a healthcare cost comparison a while back, which said that for the cost of a single hip replacement in the USA, someone could fly from the USA to Spain, get it done privately, spend a year just living normally in Spain while recovering, break the other hip and get that replaced too, and still come out ahead.

(I never fact-checked that meme, what with me living in the UK at the time where the NHS supplies everything free at point of use unless you opt for private care that very few bother with; I'm now in Germany whose system is basically what the UK left fears is dangerously American and the US right fears is dangerously like the UK's NHS).

Or some of the stuff we hear about Americans considering the 2nd amendment to be a "god given right". No thanks: safety isn't where I can get armed up, it's where I don't need to.

But now? Trump's reelection has coincided with a lot of people changing from thinking of the place as "ally sharing our values" to just "a necessary partner", a downgrade to significantly less than you describe.